Olympic Rowing Center, Shunyi

A number of readers and commenters have asked for pictures of the rowing venue that Jason and I are spending so much time at. The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park covers 402 acres (most of that water surface of course). Over 500 athletes from 47 teams and 60 countries are competing, half of them on the flat water course we are at. The weather has been hazy like the rest of Beijing for most of the week, but Jason is better qualified to say whether that has been a factor in the results.

The heats all start at the far end of the course, and for the first half of each race, we follow the competitors on a big screen at the left end of the grandstand (those across from us have a even bigger one facing them from our side of the course). As the rowers pass the screen into our sight, that's when the fans in the "family" section really erupt. We American fans are in close race with the Australians, Kiwis, the Dutch and Brits for decibel supremacy. Finals are this weekend. Go USA!